US wants Pak to withdraw: India

India today asserted that the United States
has asked Pakistan to undo the intrusion in the Kargil sector by
Pakistani army regulars and other militants.

''There is every reason to believe that the United States is part
of the international consensus which is asking Pakistan, indeed
demanding of Pakistan, that this foolhardy enterprise should be
folded up,'' an External Affairs Ministry spokesman told reporters
in New Delhi.

He was refuting a Pakistan foreign office claim that the US had
not sought withdrawal of the Pakistani army regulars from occupied
areas.

The ''international community knows and accepts that Pakistan is
engaged in army intrusion. It is also clear that the international
community including major countries have asked Pakistan that this
armed intrusion and aggression should end,'' he said.

In reply to another question, the spokesman said there was no
question of India accepting diktats from any country for resolving
the Kargil situation.

''India never accepts any diktats. It does not conduct its
foreign policy on that basis.''

It was also an ''incontrovertible'' fact that Pakistan was
engaged in sponsoring terrorism in India, including Jammu and
Kashmir and the North-East, for over ten years.

Referring to another Pakistani claim that the Line of Control
had no international recognition, he said the LoC was a
well-defined, well-settled delineated line flowing from the Simla
Agreement.

''Simla Agreement is the very corner stone of India-Pakistan
relations. The LoC's sanctity is basic and fundamental for the
maintenance of peace and security between India and Pakistan.
Therefore to claim otherwise is simply wrong.''